A wide variety of silver halide color photographic materials are on the market today, and image formation using these photographic materials is carried out in various ways. Thus, their utilization can be seen in every field. Though the properties required of photographic materials are diverse depending on their individual uses, high sharpness is required of every silver halide-utilizing photographic light-sensitive material. In a so-called silver salt photographic material, a capability of "high density recording" is the most excellent characteristic among advantages inherent therein. In order to fully achieve such a capability, it is also necessary for the silver salt photographic material to have high sharpness. Consequently, various techniques to enhance sharpness have been developed depending on the requirements imposed on each photographic material and the form of its practical use.
Main factors lowering sharpness in photographic materials involve two phenomena, one is halation attributable to reflection of incident light at the emulsion layer-support interface or the support-air interface and the other is irradiation attributable to the scattering of light by the silver halide grains themselves.
Prevention measures against aggravation of sharpness include a method of providing a white pigment-containing layer on a support. Examples of such a method are disclosed in JP-B-58-43734 (the term "JP-B" as used herein refers to an "examined Japanese patent publication"), JP-A-58-17433, JP-A-58-14830, JP-A-61-259246 (the term "JP-A" as used herein refers to a "published unexamined Japanese patent application") and so on. However, the effects conventionally achieved are insufficient.
Also, coloring the constituent layer(s) of a photographic material with dyes or the like is effective to improve sharpness. This approach is disclosed, e.g,. in JP-A-1-188850, but the use of dyes alone is still insufficient to enhance sharpness.
The characteristics required of dyes for antihalation or antiirradiation include:
(1) spectral absorption answering their purpose in use, PA0 (2) a rapid removability in the course of photographic processing, PA0 (3) no harmful effects on photographic properties of a silver halide emulsion, such as desensitization, generation of fog and so on, PA0 (4) retention of the stabilities of the photographic materials during the production and the storage thereof, PA0 F.sub.0 : Flux of light reflected from a standard white board PA0 F: Flux of light reflected from the sample PA0 P- 1) Polyvinyl acetate PA0 P- 2) Polyvinyl propionate PA0 P- 3) Polymethyl methacrylate PA0 P- 4) Polyethyl methacrylate PA0 P- 5) Polyethyl acrylate PA0 P- 6) Vinyl acetate/vinyl alcohol copolymer (95/5) PA0 P- 7) Poly(n-butyl acrylate) PA0 P- 8) Poly(n-butyl methacrylate) PA0 P- 9) Polyisobutyl methacrylate PA0 P- 10) Polyisopropyl methacrylate PA0 P- 11) Polydecyl methacrylate PA0 P- 12) n-Butyl acrylate/acrylamide copolymer (95/5) PA0 P- 13) Polymethyl chloroacrylate PA0 P- 14) 1,4-Butanediol-adipic acid polyester PA0 P- 15) Ethylene glycol-cebacic acid polyester PA0 P- 16) Polycaprolactone PA0 P- 17) Poly(2-tert-butylphenyl acrylate) PA0 P- 18) Poly(4-tert-butylphenyl acrylate) PA0 P- 19) n-Butyl methacrylate/N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone copolymer (90/10) PA0 P- 20) Methyl methacrylate/vinyl chloride copolymer (70/30) PA0 P- 21) Methyl methacrylate/styrene copolymer (90/10) PA0 L- P- 22) Methyl methacrylate/ethyl acrylate copolymer (50/50) PA0 P- 23) n-Butyl methacrylate/methyl methacrylate/styrene copolymer (50/30/20) PA0 P- 24) Vinyl acetate/acrylamide copolymer (85/15) PA0 P- 25) Vinyl chloride/vinyl acetate copolymer (65/35) PA0 P- 26) Methyl methacrylate/acrylonitrile copolymer (65/35) PA0 P- 27) Diacetoneacrylamide/methyl methacrylate copolymer (50/50) PA0 P- 28) Vinyl methyl ketone/isobutyl methacrylate copolymer (55/45) PA0 P- 29) Ethyl methacrylate/n-butyl acrylate copolymer (70/30) PA0 P- 30) Diacetoneacrylamide/n-butyl acrylate copolymer (60/40) PA0 P- 31) Methyl methacrylate/cyclohexyl methacrylate copolymer (50/50) PA0 P- 32) n-Butyl acrylate/styrene methacrylate/diacetoneacrylamide (70/20/10) PA0 P- 33) N-tert-Butylmethacrylamide/methyl methacrylate/acrylic acid copolymer (60/30/10) PA0 P- 34) Methyl methacrylate/styrene/vinyl sulfonamide copolymer (70/20/10) PA0 P- 35) Methyl methacrylate/phenyl vinyl ketone copolymer (70/30) PA0 P- 36) n-Butyl acrylate/methyl methacrylate/n-butyl methacrylate copolymer (35/35/30) PA0 P- 37) n-Butyl methacrylate/pentyl methacrylate/N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone copolymer (38/38/24) PA0 P- 38) Methyl methacrylate/n-butyl methacrylate/isobutyl methacrylate/acrylic acid copolymer (37/29/25/9) PA0 P- 39) n-Butyl methacrylate/acrylic acid copolymer (95/5) PA0 P- 40) Methyl methacrylate/acrylic acid copolymer (95/5) PA0 P- 41) Benzyl methacrylate/acrylic acid copolymer (90/10) PA0 P- 42) n-Butyl methacrylate/methyl methacrylate/benzyl methacrylate/acrylic acid copolymer (35/35/25/5) PA0 P- 43) n-Butyl methacrylate/methyl methacrylate/benzyl methacrylate copolymer (35/35/30) PA0 P- 44) Poly-3-pentyl acrylate PA0 P- 45) Cyclohexyl methacrylate/methyl methacrylate/n-propyl methacrylate copolymer (37/29/34) PA0 P- 46) Polypentyl methacrylate PA0 P- 47) Methyl methacrylate/n-butyl methacrylate copolymer (65/35) PA0 P- 48) Vinyl acetate/vinylpropionate copolymer (75/25) PA0 P- 49) n-Butyl methacrylate/3-acryloxybutane-1-sodium sulfonate copolymer (97/3) PA0 P- 50) n-Butyl methacrylate/methyl methacrylate/acrylamide copolymer (35/35/30) PA0 P- 51) n-Butyl methacrylate/methyl methacrylate/vinyl chloride copolymer (37/36/27) PA0 P- 52) n-Butyl methacrylate/styrene copolymer (90/10) PA0 P- 53) Methyl methacrylate/N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone copolymer (90/10) PA0 P- 54) n-Butyl methacrylate/vinyl chloride copolymer (90/10) PA0 P- 55) n-Butyl methacrylate/styrene copolymer (70/30) PA0 P- 56) Poly(N-sec-butylacrylamide) PA0 P- 57) Poly(N-tert-butylacrylamide) PA0 P- 58) Diacetoneacrylamide/methyl methacrylate copolymer (62/38) PA0 P- 59) Cyclohexyl methacrylate/methyl methacrylate copolymer (60/40) PA0 P- 60) N-tert-Butylacrylamide/methyl methacrylate copolymer (40/60) PA0 P- 61) Poly(N-n-butylacrylamide) PA0 P- 62) tert-Butyl methacrylate/N-tert-butylacrylamide copolymer (50/50) PA0 P- 63) tert-Butyl methacrylate/methyl methacrylate copolymer (70/30) PA0 P- 64) Poly(N-tert-butylmethacrylamide) PA0 P- 65) N-tert-Butylacrylamide/methyl methacrylate copolymer (60/40) PA0 P- 66) Methyl methacrylate/acrylonitrile copolymer (70/30) PA0 P- 67) Methyl methacrylate/vinyl methyl ketone copolymer (38/62) PA0 P- 68) Methyl methacrylate/styrene copolymer (75/25) PA0 P- 69) Methyl methacrylate/hexyl methacrylate copolymer (70/30) PA0 P- 70) Poly(benzyl acrylate) PA0 P- 71) Poly(4-biphenyl acrylate) PA0 P- 72) Poly(4-butoxycarbonylphenyl acrylate) PA0 P- 73) Poly(sec-butyl acrylate) PA0 P- 74) Poly(tert-butyl acrylate) PA0 P- 75) Poly[3-chloro-2,2-bis(chloromethyl)propyl acrylate] PA0 P- 76) Poly(2-chlorophenyl acrylate) PA0 P- 77) Poly(4-chlorophenyl acrylate) PA0 P- 78) Poly(pentachlorophenyl acrylate) PA0 P- 79) Poly(4-cyanobenzyl acrylate) PA0 P- 80) Poly(cyanoethyl acrylate) PA0 P- 81) Poly(4-cyanophenyl acrylate) PA0 P- 82) Poly(4-cyano-3-thiabutyl acrylate) PA0 P- 83) Poly(cyclohexyl acrylate) PA0 P- 84) Poly(2-ethoxycarbonylphenyl acrylate) PA0 P- 85) Poly(3-ethoxycarbonylphenyl acrylate) PA0 P- 86) Poly(4-ethoxycarbonylphenyl acrylate) PA0 P- 87) Poly(2-ethoxyethyl acrylate) PA0 P- 88) Poly(3-ethoxypropyl acrylate) PA0 P- 89) Poly(1H,1H,5H-octafluoropentyl acrylate) PA0 P- 90) Poly(heptyl acrylate) PA0 P- 91) Poly(hexadecyl acrylate) PA0 P- 92) Poly(hexyl acrylate) PA0 P- 93) Poly(isobutyl acrylate) PA0 P- 94) Poly(isopropyl acrylate) PA0 P- 95) Poly(3-methoxybutyl acrylate) PA0 P- 96) Poly(2-methoxycarbonylphenyl acrylate) PA0 P- 97) Poly(3-methoxycarbonylphenyl acrylate) PA0 P- 98) Poly(4-methoxycarbonylphenyl acrylate) PA0 P- 99) Poly(2-methoxyethyl acrylate) PA0 P-100) Poly(4-methoxyphenyl acrylate) PA0 P-101) Poly(3-methoxypropyl acrylate) PA0 P-102) Poly(3,5-dimethyladamantyl acrylate) PA0 P-103) Poly(3-dimethylaminophenyl acrylate) PA0 P-104) Polyvinyl tert-butyl ether PA0 P-105) Poly(2-methylbutyl acrylate) PA0 P-106) Poly(3-methylbutyl acrylate) PA0 P-107) Poly(1,3-dimethylbutyl acrylate) PA0 P-108) Poly(2-methylpentyl acrylate) PA0 P-109) Poly(2-naphthyl acrylate) PA0 P-110) Poly(phenyl methacrylate) PA0 P-111) Poly(propyl acrylate) PA0 P-112) Poly(m-tolyl acrylate) PA0 P-113) Poly(o-tolyl acrylate) PA0 P-114) Poly(p-tolyl acrylate) PA0 P-115) Poly(N,N-dibutylacrylamide) PA0 P-116) Poly(isohexylacrylamide) PA0 P-117) Poly(isooctylacrylamide) PA0 P-118) Poly(N-methyl-N-phenylacrylamide) PA0 P-119) Poly(adamantyl methacrylate) PA0 P-120) Poly(benzyl methacrylate) PA0 P-121) Poly(2-bromoethyl methacrylate) PA0 P-122) Poly(2-N-tert-butylaminoethyl methacrylate) PA0 P-123) Poly(sec-butyl methacrylate) PA0 P-124) Poly(tert-butyl methacrylate) PA0 P-125) Poly(2-chloroethyl methacrylate) PA0 P-126) Poly(2-cyanoethyl methacrylate) PA0 P-127) Poly(2-cyanomethylphenyl methacrylate) PA0 P-128) Poly(4-cyanophenyl methacrylate) PA0 P-129) Poly(cyclohexyl methacrylate) PA0 P-130) Poly(dodecyl methacrylate) PA0 P-131) Poly(diethylaminoethyl methacrylate) PA0 P-132) Poly(2-ethylsulfinylethyl methacrylate) PA0 P-133) Poly(hexadecyl methacrylate) PA0 P-134) Poly(hexyl methacrylate) PA0 P-135) Poly(2-hydroxypropyl methacrylate) PA0 P-136) Poly(4-methoxycarbonylphenyl methacrylate) PA0 P-137) Poly(3,5 dimethyladamantyl methacrylate) PA0 P-138) Poly(dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate) PA0 P-139) Poly(3,3-dimethylbutyl methacrylate) PA0 P-140) Poly(3,3-dimethyl-2-butyl methacrylate) PA0 P-141) Poly(3,5,5-trimethylhexyl methacrylate) PA0 P-142) Poly(octadecyl methacrylate) PA0 P-143) Poly(tetradecyl methacrylate) PA0 P-144) Poly(4-butoxycarbonylphenylmethacrylamide) PA0 P-145) Poly(4-carboxyphenylmethacrylamide) PA0 P-146) Poly(4-ethoxycarbonylphenylmethacrylamide) PA0 P-147) Poly(4-methoxycarbonylphenylmethacrylamide) PA0 P-148) Poly(butylbutoxycarbonyl methacrylate) PA0 P-149) Poly(butyl chloroacrylate) PA0 P-150) Poly(butyl cyanoacrylate) PA0 P-151) Poly(cyclohexyl chloroacrylate) PA0 P-152) Poly(ethyl chloroacrylate) PA0 P-153) Poly(ethylethoxycarbonyl methacrylate) PA0 P-154) Poly(ethyl ethacrylate) PA0 P-155) Poly(ethyl fluoromethacrylate) PA0 P-156) Poly(hexylhexyloxycarbonyl methacrylate) PA0 P-157) Poly(isobutyl chloroacrylate) PA0 P-158) Poly(isopropyl chloroacrylate) PA0 P-159) Trimethylenediamine glutaric acid polyamide PA0 P-160) Hexamethylenediamine adipic acid polyamide PA0 P-161) Poly(.alpha.-pyrrolidone) PA0 P-162) Poly(.epsilon.-caprolactam) PA0 P-163) Hexamethylenediisocyanate-1,4-butanediol polyurethane PA0 P-164) p-Phenylenediisocyanate-ethylene glycol polyurethane
and so on.
As can be seen from the above, there is a very large demand for photographic materials with high sharpness. In processing silver halide color photographic materials, on the other hand, demands for a shortening of processing completion time and a reduction in environmental pollution due to waste solutions used for photographic processing have recently become very strong. Under these circumstances, when rapid processing or low replenishment processing is performed, an increase in coverage of dyes with the intention of heightening the sharpness of image results in a marked generation of undesirable color stain due to the dyes remaining after the photographic processing, and this results in an extreme deterioration of image quality.
Techniques for decreasing the amount of replenisher to be used in each processing step, and low replenishment in the bleach fix, and washing and/or stabilizing steps increase in dark thermal discoloration and photodiscoloration attributable to residual color developing, bleaching and fixing ingredients which are brought about by low replenishment, and alleviation of these difficulties are disclosed in JP-A-59-184343, JP-A-60-239749, JP-A-61-118751, JP-A-60-228832 and JP-A-60-262161. However, the amount of dyes remaining where dyes are used in quantity, as in the present invention, and methods of reducing the amount of residual dyes have not yet been studied in detail.
In addition, it has turned out that photographic speed varies where permeation of incident light into a photographic material is reduced by a large amount of dye, where dyes are decomposed during a long range storage to greatly change the spectrum of incident light. Further, it has been found that there are problems in increase in stain and change in gradation which were caused by decomposition products of dyes upon long range storage.